Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Shook Twins to American Idol: Thanks But No Thanks

Sandpoint natives Katelyn and Laurie Shook of Shook Twins are pretty proud of making a living off their music in Portland, Ore. They write the songs they want, and play them the way they think their songs should be played, which is why, when the duo received an email invitation from massively popular FOX broadcast solo musician expogasm American Idol to compete as solo acts on the program, their response was, "Thanks, but no thanks."

"You said in your email invitation that, 'You would have to audition us individually of course.' It's interesting that you assume that would be OK. Sure, 'Of course' we would abandon ten years of hard work and career building as a duo to be the next new 'Pop Star' singing songs that we didn't even write," the sisters wrote back.

It wasn't just the "offer" to split the sisters into separate competing acts that irked the twins: They also took some umbrage at the concept behind American Idol, as well:

"We feel that music is not meant to be a competition. It's a platform to say something powerful and should be a way of bringing people together, not separating them. We feel that your vision is completely different. We would be going against everything that we stand for by auditioning for American Idol."

Here's the full text of the twins' letter, which they posted on the band's Facebook page.